A coalition of left-wing Capitol Hill staffers have issued demands for Congress to reduce the work week to just 32 hours.

As reported by the Daily Caller, the Congressional Progressive Staff Association (CPSA) released a draft of an open letter on Thursday, claiming that such a drastically reduced week would “improve worker satisfaction, increase staff retention in Congress, and model a more sustainable approach to work on a national level.” The shortened work week would only apply whenever Congress is out of session; whenever Congress is in session, the 32-hour week would apply to district offices in the member’s respective home district.

“The intensive nature of these roles often causes staffers to seek new positions earlier than they would in a more predictable and sustainable work environment,” the CPSA draft says. “Given the cyclical nature of the schedule, we propose implementing a 32-hour workweek for D.C.-based staff during district work periods and a 32-hour workweek for district-based staff while in-session.”

“Doing so — without a reduction in pay — would allow both D.C. and distinct staff to be fully available around the clock throughout more intensive periods when the Member is in town while allowing for a more sustainable schedule when workloads are more manageable,” the letter continues.

However, the proposal has been attempted in the past in other fields of work, with research consistently proving that shortened work weeks do not solve issues of employee burnout. In 2023, a Gallup survey of 12,000 full-time employees determined that four-day work weeks actually resulted in a higher rate of burnout and exhaustion than those working a regular, five-day week.